


Remember Me Near

by iconis



Category: Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, Popslash
Genre: AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-12-22
Updated: 2006-12-22
Packaged: 2017-10-15 11:18:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/160303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iconis/pseuds/iconis





	Remember Me Near

Nick wipes the counter for the fourth time in as many minutes. It's one of the last slow nights before the end of the midterms, and Nick soaks up the quiet, because soon it'll be gone, pushed away by loud, obnoxious students. Then again, Nick thinks, it's his favorite time of the year, just before the holidays. The stress is over and people are at their happiest, spending the last night together with their friends before dispersing all over the country to see their families.

A few years back it used to make him a little wistful, seeing the kids with their backpacks, carrying half of what they own to the busses and trains and taxis to the airport. It made him miss something, but he wasn't quite sure what. It was because of that little nagging, uncomfortable feeling that he closed up the bar for the first year, but after the kids who had stayed behind left him something close to a signed petition, appealing to him to keep the bar open during the holidays, he hasn't had much choice. Besides, the holidays for him meant Aaron and sleeping in and eating ice cream in his pajamas in front of the TV, and since Aaron didn't seem to mind, he'd started keeping the bar open.

There's a quiet shuffle when someone pushes the door open and steps in. The air smells like snow even though there's none on the ground - it's been the warmest and the darkest December in years. The new customer shakes his umbrella lightly, hisses quietly to himself. Nick's already smiling when the boy turns to face him, but he finds himself pausing for a moment. Nick will laugh at himself later, when he thinks about this moment, but then, all he can think is that the guy is the most handsome guy he's ever seen.

"Hi. What can I get you?" Nick barely registers saying it, but then looks away, almost physically shakes himself. He sees pretty boys every single day, scholarship footballers and bruised up lacrosse players, gorgeous drama students, and he doesn't let them get to him, doesn't let himself get to them. That would be asking for trouble, that would be asking to get boycotted and vandalized, and even though the bar's doing pretty well, he just can't afford that.

"Uh. Just a beer, thanks. And the restroom?" The guy lets out a sheepish grin, and walks to the direction Nick’s pointing to without shedding his jacket. Nick reaches for a bottle of the most popular brand, opens it and puts it on the counter. The boy doesn't take long, and shrugs his jacket off when he gets to the counter.

"Thanks, man." He slips a ten to Nick, shakes his head when he offers the change. He rubs at his shaven head, grimacing a little and grins at Nick. “It was pouring out there earlier. I don't understand how it can rain when it’s so fucking cold."

"Want a towel? I have some extra in the back." Nick smiles at the boy, because wow, those are some blue eyes. Besides, he hasn't seen the guy before, it's good to be extra friendly to new customers. It's the only way to make them regulars.

"Nah, thanks. Not much to dry. And the umbrella helped a little." The boy smiles. Nick watches him carefully and sees him looking around. "Looks like a nice place."

"Thanks. Try to keep it cozy enough, even though it's a campus bar." Nick feels a little surge of ridiculous pride, because even if it's not a flashy, trendy place, it's Nick's and Nick's alone.

The boy seems a little surprised. "You own the place?"

Nick smiles. "Yeah. Four and a half years, now." He pauses. "I'm Nick." He reaches over the counter and offers his hand to the boy, who takes it and shakes it firmly.

"Pleasure, Nick. I'm Justin." Nick pretends that the smile on Justin's face doesn't make the pit of his stomach clench a little.

 

///

 

Nick's life goes forward in its calm pace. It's a fairly normal night off for him, hanging out with Aaron at their regular restaurant off campus. Nick watches Aaron attack his last slice of pizza and grins, shaking his head.

"You eat like a fucking shark, bro." Aaron flips him off and mumbles something with his mouth full of food, earning a kick under the table. "God, some manners, 'kay?"

Nick turns his head to watch the crowd and suddenly meets a pair of familiar blue eyes looking at him. Justin grins widely, gives a little wave, says something to the waitress at the bar and walks over to them.

"Hey, man. Whatcha doing, planning on an evil overlord sort of overtake at Fatone's?"

Nick grins. "Just having dinner. The owner's a friend of mine. Hey, man. How are you?"

He and Justin do a quick shake of hands. They've seen each other a few times now, at the bar, when Justin walks in and sits by the bar for a few hours, always on the quiet nights. Nick tells himself he's gotten over his initial attraction, but every time he meets Justin his insides turn a little. Justin's just a nice guy, funny, smooth and easy-spoken, a music major working on his doctorate - and Nick doesn't say anything, but it impresses the hell out of him, that such a young guy has such a drive, has the talent to be in that situation in his life already.

Nick doesn't have a crush, really, he's just impressed by Justin. Justin looks at Aaron a little questioningly, and Aaron looks at Nick.

"Justin, this is my little brother, Aaron. Aaron, Justin, a. Buddy of mine."

Aaron nods, swallows first, wipes his hands on the napkin and shakes Justin's hand. "Good to meet you, man." Aaron glances at him, like he knows exactly what Nick's thinking, and even though Nick tries to look as menacing as he can, Aaron smiles widely. "Nick's told me a lot about you."

Justin looks pleased. "Yeah? Cool. He's talking about you all the time, too."

From the way Justin and Aaron grin at each other, Nick knows he's in trouble.

 

///

 

Aaron is deceptively quiet on the walk back home. "So Justin's a nice guy."

"Shut up before I shut you up."

Aaron laughs. "What the hell, man?" He grins at Nick. "I'm just sayin'. He’s cool. And totally has the hots for you."

"The hell he does. Christ, Aaron, you see me talking to one guy and you have to try make it all. Sordid."

Aaron shakes his head, grins. "You're just fucking clueless, Nicky. And speaking of clueless, I'm gonna spend next weekend at Angel's, so you're free to bring loverboy home with you."

Nick groans. "You are such a pain in the ass, Aaron."

"And yet you love me more than life itself."

Nick smacks the back of Aaron's head. The kid is annoyingly right at times.

 

///

 

Nick stacks the beer cases in the corner. Chris is making constant noise at the other end of the bar, talking to a pair of girls almost young enough to be his daughters. Nick grins at him, shakes his head, and Chris grins right back. Nick knows Chris is just having his fun - having his fun and then going home to his dogs and his boyfriend. Chris has a real job as a guidance counselor at the high school and keeps a private practice as a psychotherapist, but he helps Nick out when he can and when he wants to. Chris talks loudly about the times when he was young and wild, when in all reality, Chris has never calmed down. Chris was the first person Nick met in this town, and Nick thinks he can never repay Chris for all his help.

Nick serves the few customers by the bar, and when someone slips him a CD and loudly demanding he plays a few songs from it, Nick shrugs. He takes the CD and goes to the player and that's when he realizes what is familiar about the guy on the cover. It's Justin, in a black and white shot, wearing a white suit, looking like a million bucks. Nick fumbles with the CD, gets it in the player, and when he hears the first sung line, he has to lean against the shelf.

 

///

 

Two and half weeks later Justin walks in the bar, looking glum and tired, barely smiling.

"Hey, man. Wanna get me a beer and a shot of something? Whiskey, anything."

Nick raises his eyebrow, but gets Justin what he wants. He watches him down the shot and take a long drag from the bottle. Nick waits for a moment.

"What's up, man?"

Justin sighs, scratches at his forehead. "Ah, man, nothing serious. Just having a rough couple of weeks with the thesis. I wanna get it done as fast as I can, but I'm not getting the information I've requested in time and fuck all else, so. Stuck."

Nick hums sympathetically. "So you needed a distraction."

Justin grins a little, nods, takes a swig of his beer. Nick smiles back at him, then remembers the CD. He finds himself grinning.

"So hey. Couldn't tell your buddy you were a big recording artist and everything?" Nick looks around, reaches for the case and drops it on the counter between them. "One of the kids wanted me to play stuff off it a few weeks back. It was good, man, they ate it all up."

Justin looks at the CD, blinks, grins slowly. "Well what sort of a conversation would that have been? 'I'm Justin, I made a little album a few years back that some geeks still listen to?'"

Nick grins widely. "Hey, I couldn't possibly have thought that your ego is pretty big. Absolutely not." Justin has the decency to blush, and grins wider at him.

"Hey, fuck you, buddy. We can't all be modest and humble and decent like you."

Nick laughs. "Decent? Oh, you have no fucking clue, man." He realizes too late he's suddenly flirting with Justin, that he's crossing that line, and his smile falters. Justin is looking at him, grinning at him, and Nick takes a deep breath, meets his eyes. Justin tilts his head a little, squints, like he's trying to see inside Nick's head, and Nick thinks he maybe does see in, because Justin's smile is suddenly gone.

"So. You want another whiskey?" Nick murmurs, looking at Justin's empty shot glass. Justin shakes his head no, stands up, finishes his beer in one big gulp.

"Gotta go. I have a thing I need to do tonight." Justin gets his coat on, glances at Nick. "Put it on my tab?"

"On the house, man."

Justin nods, thanks him, steps towards the door and then turns back around. "You have your day off tomorrow?"

Nick frowns. "Yeah?"

"Meet me at Fatone's for dinner? Around seven?" Justin's standing in the corner, in the shadow, but Nick could swear he can see the pink on Justin's cheeks.

"Oh, uh, sure. Yeah, okay. At seven."

"If that's cool. I mean, if you don't already have plans?"

"No, no. Tomorrow at seven, gotcha."

Nick watches Justin go, blinking. Aaron is so going to laugh at him.

 

///

 

Aaron does laugh, he laughs long and hard and pokes fun at him up to the point Nick kicks him out to spend the night at Chris and Kevin's. It's not a precaution, really not, he just can't deal with Aaron's flavor of humor today. He gets dressed, all casual, because this is not a date, and uses his good aftershave just because he feels like it. He gets to Fatone's at quarter to seven. Kelly is all over him, smoothes his new, not really fancy shirt over his shoulder, sniffs loudly at his neck. Joey grins at him from the open kitchen, waves hello.

Justin rushes in at seven thirty, grinning and looking ridiculously good, breathless from running, probably.

"Nick, sorry, seriously, didn't mean to make you wait-" and suddenly Justin leans over and almost kisses him and Nick can't stop himself from flinching, can see the panic rise up in Justin's eyes.

"Jesus, Nick, I'm sorry, really, I wasn't thinking, it's just, my family, we kiss everyone, I didn't mean-"

Nick's shaking his head, trying to get a word in, stop Justin from apologizing, but it doesn't work so he clamps a hand over Justin's mouth, feels him trying to form words against his hand, feels Justin's impossibly soft lips against his fingers.

"Shut up and sit down. I get it, okay, no need to apologize. Alright?" Justin still has a wild look in his eyes, but Nick pulls his hand back, expectant look on his face. Justin sits down, red in the face, pinching the bridge of his nose briefly.

"Well, that was a dramatic start to the evening."

Nick has to grin.

 

///

 

Nick fumbles with the key, tries to open the door. It’s not nerves, it's the wine, he did have a few glasses, he tells himself, and when the door finally opens, Justin whoops victoriously, making Nick laugh.

"Hey, it's a tricky lock, you fucker."

"You mean the key user is just too drunk to figure it out?" Justin steps in before him, and Nick catches a lingering scent of Justin, Justin’s aftershave and cigarette smoke from the restaurant, and it makes him sigh quietly. Justin walks in, takes off his jacket, kicks off his shoes and walks further into the apartment like it's his own, snoops around completely shamelessly, peeking in to the first room.

"This is Aaron's, right?" At Nick's nod Justin takes another look and closes the door. "How's that, living with your baby brother?"

Nick shrugs, slips out of his jacket, takes his shoes off. "It's good. I get to keep an eye on him. And he's my best friend."

"That's really cool. I love my siblings and all, but I couldn’t live with them." Justin grins, moving on to the living room, walking to the window. "You have a nice view."

Nick doesn't know what to say to that. He walks to the kitchen, goes to the fridge. "Want a beer?"

Justin's voice comes so much closer than he expects that Nick jumps a little, turns around to see him. Justin is standing close, too close, looking at him, worrying his lower lip lightly. "Sure."

It takes Nick a moment to realize what Justin means, but then he finally offers the other bottle to Justin, who's not moving away, just takes the bottle and twists the cap off. Nick opens his mouth but nothing comes out.

Justin sighs softly, turns a little, murmurs, pointing at the closed door. "That your room?"

"Yeah."

Justin takes a sip of his beer and saunters away, and Nick takes a deep breath, shivers from the strength of it. He watches Justin open the door and walk, look around, and finally after a while, trusts his legs enough to follow him. His room is big, almost bigger than the sizeable living room, and surprisingly neat, despite the fact he and Aaron never have time to clean. Nick kicks at the small pile of dirty clothes. Justin grins.

"I like this apartment. Enough space." Justin's looking out of the window, looking at his things, touching every book he can find.

"Yeah, it's nice- you're really nosy, aren't you?" Nick grins, because he wouldn't have the guts to walk into someone's apartment and be so open about his interest.

Justin grins back at him, not one bit apologetic. "Yeah. I can't help it! I'm naturally curious."

"Nosy."

"Curious."

"Same difference."

Justin laughs. "Is not, asshole."

Nick sits on the edge of the bed, watches Justin touch his things, smiles at him. Justin glances at Nick, pausing. He walks to the bed, sits next to Nick, looks at him in a way that makes Nick want to take deeper breaths. Nick sips at his beer.

"Anyway. Glad you like the place." Nick smiles at Justin, and he doesn't really have any chance to fight what happens next - Justin leans over and kisses him, slow and sweet and briefly hesitant. Nick's fingers slip off the bottle and it falls on the floor, beer spreading on the floor in a puddle. Justin pulls back, turns his head to look at the mess, but it's too late now, Nick knows what he wants, he's known it from day one, and neither of them have had any choice over it.

Nick cups Justin's cheek and turns him to face him, kisses Justin deeply, firmly, but not any less gentle. Justin makes a soft sound somewhere deep in his chest, and leans fully into the kiss. His palm presses against Nick's chest, rubs slowly, and everything about Justin's demeanor, the way he kisses and touches him, makes Nick's skin tingle. Nick pulls back a little, carefully nips at Justin's lips, catchest the faint grin on his face.

"What?"

"I just. I can't believe I had the patience not to do that the first time I saw you."

Nick finds himself blushing, much to his own horror. "Well, I'm not exactly irresistible."

Justin laughs. "Fuck, c'mon. Look at you. I just have greater willpower than anyone I know."

Nick has to laugh at that. "You're a piece of work, Justin." He looks at Justin's face for a moment, and suddenly he can't see a trace of the soft, sweet Justin, it's a Justin that looks hungry, almost feral, and then Nick finds himself pushed back to lie on the bed, feels Justin straddling his hips. He makes a low sound, rests his hands on Justin's hips, and watches him lean in and lick his lips.

"God, man. How can you be this hot?" Justin grins, and then Nick has to pull him down for a kiss, a hot deep kiss with tongue and a little bit of teeth. Nick runs his hands along Justin's sides, slips them under his shirt, and pulls on the hem, makes Justin pull back for long enough to get the shirt off him. Justin's skin is soft and smooth and tanned, and Nick runs his fingertips over Justin's stomach, over the pronounced muscles, and feels him huff a soft breath, feels him shiver all over.

Justin leans down, kisses along Nick's neck, nibbles lightly on his collarbone. His fingers are deftly undoing the buttons on Nick's shirt, running down his chest. Justin makes a happily surprised sound, almost a purr, when he finds the rings adorning his nipples, rubs his thumbs lightly around them. Nick rubs his hand over the fuzz on Justin's head, kneads his shoulders slowly. Justin leans in, flicks his tongue over a nipple, closes his mouth over it, and Nick can more feel than hear the clink of metal against Justin's teeth. The softsharp spike of pleasure spreads from his chest to his limbs, and he finds himself arching against Justin, letting out a soft moan.

Justin leans back up, kisses him hot and heavy, rubs his hips against Nick's and then Nick's not only aroused any more, he's harder than hell, painfully hard inside his jeans, and he has to take back the slightest bit of control. He's pushes at Justin's shoulders, twists and turns until Justin's on his back, aligns himself between Justin's legs, grinds his hips against Justin's, earning a low, achy groan from him. Nick kisses his way down Justin's neck, licks softly down his stomach, stops to nuzzle the soft, light hair leading down from his navel. He glances up at Justin, who's leaning back, propping himself up on his elbows, mouth open a little, breathing erratically. Nick shifts to undo Justin's jeans. He isn't the slightest bit surprised when all he finds under the jeans is bare skin.

Justin sighs loudly when he nuzzles lower, falls back to lie on the bed, hips arching a little. Justin probably doesn't realize how obscenely sexy that makes him look, and Nick hums lowly, nuzzles his way down, takes a long lick along Justin's cock, feels it harden even more. Nick takes him into his mouth, sucking slowly and firmly, revels in the breathless moan he gets. He keeps sucking, swirling his tongue, and it doesn't take long when Nick feels Justin's balls tightening under his touch, feels Justin tugging urgently on his hair, trying to pull him off his cock. Nick hums, pulls away with a last, slow suck, and then it only takes Justin a few strong thrusts into Nick's hand to make a mess of himself, Nick, and the sheets.

Justin is breathing hard, shudders with the aftershocks, hands limp on his sides. "Oh my fucking god."

Nick grins smugly, wipes Justin and himself clean with his shirt and tosses it on the floor. He slides up Justin's body, kisses him slowly and deeply, and after a moment, he feels Justin slide his hand down his stomach, inching it inside his jeans. Nick lets out a desperate little breath, Justin's fingers are cold against his hot, hard dick, and the contrast feels startlingly good. Justin tries to curl his fingers around him, but the jeans are too tight, and with a frustrated sigh Justin pushes them onto their sides.

Justin works Nick's jeans open quickly, slips his hand inside, wraps his hand tightly around Nick. Nick moans into Justin's mouth, softly bites at his lip, pushes into Justin's hand. Justin kisses him, sucks lightly on his tongue, and after a while, he twists his fist, rubs his thumb against him just right, and Nick barely notices the deep moan he lets out when the pleasure hits him. He shakes for a long time, Justin bringing him down gently, obviously wanting him to feel as good as possible as long as he can. Nick shivers, breathes against his lips, and kisses him, gentle and sweet like the first kiss, and when it's evident they won't be making it out of bed without a nap and possibly another round, he pulls the blanket on them.

Justin yawns, murmurs sleepily. "You're so sleeping in the wet spot."

"Only fair, I guess." Nick nuzzles Justin's temple. The way Justin's holding on to him would indicate that he won't be sleeping on his side of the bed alone, either.

"And I get to blow you next time."

Nick's smiles because he's too tired to laugh. "Well, twist my arm." He pauses, smiles wider. "Bet you you can't give as good a blowjob as I can, though." He's just teasing Justin, grinning at the indignant sound he makes.

"Are you challenging me, Carter?"

"You're the one that started talking blowjobs, here."

"I can suck a cock like the rest of them, man." Justin pauses. "Well, that. You fuckin' tricked me into saying something like that."

Nick grins. "Uh-huh." He's too tired to open his eyes, but he swears he can feel Justin's smile against his skin. He burrows a little closer to Justin. "Good night."

 

///

 

Nick stands behind the bar, watches the kids, sings along quietly to the music. It's a busy, wild night, the kids are gearing up for their spring break, and the noise and commotion is at top level tonight. Aaron is in, too, hanging out with Chris and Joey and a guy called AJ, who seems like the nicest guy, at least if you ask Aaron. Nick decides not to think about that for too long. Aaron's already half-way to giving him an ulcer, anyway.

He goes around the back for a moment, picks up a case of beer, and when he comes back Justin is standing next to the register, looking around. Nick puts the case down and walks over to him.

"Hey, babe."

Justin turns to look, gives him a private smile. "Hey. Just as busy as you said."

Nick nods. "It'll be like this for a good while longer."

Justin sighs, leans a little closer. "You mind if I don't stick around? I'm exhausted."

Nick smiles at Justin, shakes his head. "Nah. Go on home. Don't wait up, you look like you're dead on your feet."

Justin rolls his head, stretches his shoulders a little. "I am. But I'll try to stay up. Or at least wake me up when you get home?"

Nick nods. He has no intention of doing that. "Go home. I'll see you in a few hours."

Justin smiles, reaches to squeeze Nick's hand, and Nick can't help himself, he leans and kisses Justin softly, savouring it. Justin's surprise is evident, and he gets a pleased smile and a soft kiss on the cheek before Justin pulls back, goes around the counter.

Justin gives him a pointed look after he pulls his jacket on. "Wake me up."

Nick grins, nods and watches Justin go, the warmth of Justin's body lingering with him for a long time.


End file.
